I write in response to the editorial ‘We're on mute! Exclusion of nurses' voices in national decision and responses to COVID‐19: An international perspective’, by Rasmussen et al. (2022), to clarify and advocate for the role of Australian nurses throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic.
I thank the editorial's authors for highlighting the need for nurses and midwives to be properly recognized and have the voices they deserve in important advisory forums, including in relation to how countries have responded—and will continue to respond—to COVID‐19.
The editorial, however, asserts that the voices of Australian nurses have seldom been heard or included in decision‐making and the development of interventions and responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic. This is simply wrong.
The editorial's authors go further to say it appears the voices of nurses have been ‘muted and excluded’ from these processes—a situation in Australia I also strongly disagree with.
Nurses and midwives across Australia have made—and continue to make—an enormous contribution to informing, steering and implementing our country's COVID‐19 response.
They have played—and continue to play—an important role in decision‐making relating to the response.
As Australia's Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, I sit on Australia's key advisory committee for health emergencies, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC). I do so to represent and provide a voice for Australia's nursing profession.
I am also the co‐chair of Australia's Infection Prevention and Control Expert Group, which provides advice to the AHPPC. Again, I provide a voice in this important forum for nurses and midwives across Australia.
I have very regular engagement with nurses through the Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Reference Group and the National Nursing and Midwifery Education Advisory Committee—and this feedback is well and truly heard in the committees that I sit on.
The editorial's authors also asserted there had been ‘few instances of senior nurses sharing high level COVID‐19 response information with the public’.
Throughout the pandemic, I have conducted many interviews on television and radio, appeared in regular media conferences, and featured in podcasts and social media videos. All of these raised awareness of Australia's COVID‐19 response and provided a voice for our nurses and midwives.
These media appearances have encouraged COVID‐safe practices and urged people to keep up to date with important developments—from vaccines to variants of concern, the use of personal protective equipment, travel restrictions and long COVID.
I am so proud of the work Australia's nurses and midwives have played throughout the pandemic. They have worked so hard, in an absolutely critical role—and I can assure you, their voices have been well and truly heard.